Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
2-0
Murray St.
1-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murray State | 19 | 27 | 46 |
| Southern Illinois | 32 | 30 | 62 |
Men's Basketball speeds past Racers, 62-46
11/19/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2006
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Salukis unveiled a new and improved Jamaal Tatum on Sunday night against Murray State.
After being suspended for both exhibition games and the season opener, Tatum returned to action to score 20 points and lead Southern Illinois (2-0) to a 62-46 win against the Racers.
What impressed head coach Chris Lowery most, however, was the maturity he witnessed in his senior guard.
"He's a different player," Lowery said. "He's poised. Offensively, I think he made the right reads with the ball and without the ball. He was very good at motion and running, getting open and setting things up."
Last year, Tatum was SIU's leading scorer, but he made just 36 percent of his shots, and it was teammate Tony Young who earned first-team all-conference honors.
"My biggest thing with him is that I'm making him be disciplined every day," Lowery said.
The results speak for themselves. Tatum made 7-of-12 shots from the field against Murray State, including 4-of-5 from outside the arc. His instincts on when to pass up a shot and when to pull the trigger were impeccable.
"Coach is always talking about how we're not young anymore, and we're a mature team," Tatum said. "I think that showed today."
Besides Tatum's stellar play, the Salukis used their tried and true defensive pressure to make quick work of the Racers (1-3).
SIU never trailed in the game and held Murray State to just seven points in the first 10 minutes of the contest.
"We shut them down defensively," Lowery said. "Blew away some stuff they tried to do. With the exception of a couple things, we really forced the issue."
Murray State turned the ball over 22 times against SIU's withering pressure.
"They are tough-minded defensively, like we're trying to become," said Murray State coach Billy Kennedy, who has just one returning starter back from last year's NCAA Tournament team. "They're a championship team."
The Salukis built a 26-15 lead on back-to-back 3- pointers by Tatum and Matt Shaw with 4:18 left in the first half. They led by double digits the rest of the way and by as much as 21 points in the second half.
Tatum said the Racers decided to pack their defense into the paint and force the Salukis to make outside shots.
"I think Murray State's game plan was to get our big men out of there," he said. "They packed it in tight. It was very difficult to get the ball inside."
Usually a key to victory, Saluki forward Randal Falker and Shaw were held to six and seven points, respectively.
One Saluki big man who earned Lowery's praise, though, was reserve forward Tony Boyle, who had five points and three rebounds off the bench.
"He's getting better," Lowery said. "If Matt and Randal had played like that last year, we'd lose."
Lowery was not pleased, however, with his backup guard play, especially late in the game. After pulling the starters with 2:38 remaining, he put them back in when the subs had poor back-to-back possessions that resulted in Murray State buckets.
"When (the subs) go in, they need to value and respect their time," he said. "They didn't, and that's why they came out right away. We had an air ball, shot off the sideboard that nobody got back. People looking at us on tape will know we're not comfortable with those guys.
"That's a bad sign, that's why I was very upset with that last group that went in. They showed weaknesses when they weren't pressing."
The Salukis will face an early-season test when they play Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day at 11 a.m. CT. on ESPN2. The team is competing in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. and will depart on Monday night.
